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Freya’s Flora.
A relatively recently established flower shop amongst a popular district filled with all sorts of stores selling trinkets and souvenirs located in the Far East. It was originally founded 3 years ago, starting out as a pastime and evolving into a fully fledged store, with its first branch located near the renowned St. Freya Academy.
Aiming to provide comfort and a potential hobby to its customers, the store not only sells various plants and flowers, but also tools and homemade fertilizers. Though it has an enigmatic opening schedule, it is worth a visit as there are varieties of blooms found all over the world despite the season and weathe—
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.
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A girl trembles in excitement as she clutches the pamphlet she had read over and over again before arriving at her destination.
“After sooooo long! I finally get to visit the real thing!” the white-haired girl squealed in excitement as she stood in front of the first branch of Freya’s Flora.
“Too bad Mom has to go to get groceries… Oh well! I guess I’ll just have to explore the store by myself,” she mumbled.
As the girl walks toward the direction of the flower shop, she has a slight spring in her steps, despite her serious expression. This enthusiasm slowly faded away once she managed to take a good look of the store from afar.
“Why aren’t there customers? I figured that there would be more now that it’s autumn,” She questioned.
“It looked quite… gloomy.”
To an indifferent passerby, it looks like your typical run-of-the-mill flower shop that somehow became the talk of the town because a famous tourism magazine author stopped by and wrote an article on it.
Yet if one were to observe more closely, despite the colorful arrangements of flowers and the inviting atmosphere its facade is exuding, the lack of activity inside the shop made what would be a lively place turn eerie and disturbing.
Her enthusiasm, now replaced with anxiety, made way for hesitancy, despite her zeal from before she entered the shop.
“No! Focus! This shop only opens once in a blue moon but it’s always guaranteed to open during the 17th of October!”
Having made up her mind to not waste this chance to explore, she steeled her resolve and opened the door, despite her trembling hands.
With the ring of the door chime welcoming a new customer, the girl was greeted by the wide variety of floral scents, as well as the myriads of flowers on display. The sight of such splendid blossoms blew all of her agitations away.
If a new customer were to describe the atmosphere of the store in one word, it would definitely be ‘Cozy’.
The shop focused more on a comfortable and relaxing environment, giving incoming clients a quick breather from all their duties and tension.
Alongside the floral scents lingering in the air, this kind of atmosphere would certainly make way for a more calming and easier selection of the products these clients have in mind.
Pots of flora are neatly organized in the shelves and in the counters. They’re sorted by colors, which helps customers to locate the flowers they aim to purchase. Upon further inspection, the shop also sold gardening tools, fertilizers, and even books about the types of flora, just like the pamphlet described. If one even has a keen eye, they would even be able to spot small trinkets, such as limited edition Homu plushies, sitting atop the counters.
The little girl was filled with glee, and toured around the shop; taking in the fresh sights of the different, unique buds of flowers she only ever encountered in books. She carefully examined each and every flower until something caught her sight.
"This is..." she muttered, as she strolled towards a pot containing numerous white Amaryllis flowers blooming splendidly under the autumn rays.
"...the flower that Mom gave me at that time,” her thoughts wandered, her mind reliving past memories, as she blankly gazed at the pot of white flowers, until…
"The little miss seems to like flowers a lot,“ unexpectedly, a voice whispered right next to her ear, prompting her to jolt up due to the surprise of someone appearing so swiftly and so suddenly beside her, like a flap of a butterfly’s wings. She took a glance at the mysterious person, green eyes meeting purple. Her amethyst eyes gave off a warm glow, like the calmness of the sea, yet they exhibit a hint of curiosity towards the young girl.
“Her eyes are pretty,” she thought.
The woman beside her is definitely in her 20s, wearing a simple white long-sleeved polo shirt, sleeves rolled up, paired up with dark blue slack pants and a pair of… comfy bunny slippers? She seems to be wearing leather gloves, presumably for protection while working with plants, as well as a brown apron with embroidered flower patterns that’s most likely to be this store’s uniform. And only then did the little girl notice the lady’s ID clipped to her apron revealing…
"I'm so so sorry!" She fervently apologized, bowing her head as she grasped the fact that the person in front of her is the master of the flower shop.
"Ah, it's okay, don't worry." Miss Shopkeep replied nonchalantly as she waved her hand dismissively.
"It's just.. rare for children your age to take interest in flowers. From my observation, they’re all more interested in sports and social media nowadays, which makes me quite curious as to why you're staring daggers at an innocent pot of blooming Amaryllis flowers." she added.
"Ah, well, you see..." she stutters as she tries to organize her thoughts, while Miss Shopkeep gingerly strokes the petals of the Amaryllis.
"Well… This flower… Mom gave me a basket of these when I got disqualified in a local quiz bee… They said that they spotted me receiving instructions and answers from one of the audiences! But, I swear I didn’t do anything…”
Miss Shopkeep hummed in response as she continued to caress the petals of the flower. After a long silence --which made the little girl unconsciously sweat due to nervousness--, Miss Shopkeep responded.
"I suppose your mother wants you to be determined."
"Eh?"
"Amaryllis generally means pride, strength, determination, and… innocence. I assume she wants to give you to stay determined despite after what happened." Miss Shopkeep gently says as she continues to stroke the Amaryllis’s petals.
"Ah... Mom..."
The petite girl takes another meaningful look at the pot of Amaryllis and slowly takes in the past events in a new light. Miss Shopkeep eyed her curiously, opening her mouth...
"Hmmm... Do you want to learn more about flowers? Not many people visit this shop these days, despite it being in the middle of autumn, and I’m getting bored while waiting for customers to come..." Miss Shopkeep sighed as she shook her head.
"Is it really okay? Won’t I be a bother?” the little girl replied nervously.
“Just accept the offer, it’s only once in your lifetime would you get the chance to learn under an experienced florist such as I.” Miss Shopkeep winked
—
“Miss Shopkeep, there’s this one question I’ve been meaning to ask earlier.”
“Hm?”
“There are… a lot of flowers that I recognize from books that are blooming out of season, and I’m curious as to how you managed to make them flourish.”
“Sharp eyes you got there.”
“Will you tell me then?”
“Hmm..”
“Please…?”
“Only if you keep this secret between the two of us.”
“I promise!”
“...I used a little bit of magic.”
“Wait.. Magic???”
“Mhm. Want to see?”
“Yes please! I’ve always wanted to see real magic ever since I was a kid!”
“Now watch closely”
Miss Shopkeep carefully plucks a leaf from a nearby sunflower and holds it in the end with her fingers. The leaf then begins to glow, emanating a warm yet enchanting aura. It turns into some sort of slushy substance, before molding into a stem, sprouting leaves as it slowly matures into a miniature sunflower.
“Here, I enchanted this sunflower so that it would always bloom as long as you give it adequate water and sunlight.”
The little girl accepted the ‘magically-grown’ sunflower with happiness.
“Woww! So pretty! Miss Shopkeep, will I ever learn how to use magic just like you?” The girl asked while her eyes are sparkling with excitement.
“Of course you can, as long as you’re a good girl.” Miss Shopkeep chuckled.
—
“Now listen well, there are many and differing types of tools when it comes to gardening, but what you need the most are these basic tools before moving on to buy more specialized tools. Can you name them as you point towards said tools?”
“Mhm! You need a pair of gloves to protect your hands, secateurs to prune branches and leaves, a trowel to dig small holes and get rid of those nasty weeds, a rake for turning and smoothing soil… Eh?” She stopped, before pointing towards a stick.
“Miss Shopkeep, why is there a stick in the tool shed?”
“Ah, that stick-”
“Wait a minute, does Miss Shopkeep use this to poke and see if the soil is soft or hard for gardening? How ingenious!” She said, before wielding the stick as if it’s the holy sword of a certain legendary hero.
“...Yup. It’s also handy because it also functions as a marker if I take a break from cleaning the garden.”
As the little girl admires the creative usage of a stick for gardening, Miss Shopkeep has her own thoughts of the matter.
“I guess I shouldn’t say that I just polished a random tree branch lying on the ground into a stick while I was bored huh.”
—
“I’m impressed that you know how to properly water plants. Most people that are starting their own gardens wouldn’t know how to water their plants correctly.”
“Mmm! Mom also has her own garden and I’m helping her tend to it, so I learned various gardening techniques under her tutelage. She’s also a professional bush sculptor that owns a small collection of bonsai trees so she has a lot of experience dealing with plants.”
“Sculpting huh… That reminds me of... Hmm. Let me see if it’s still here.”
“?”
“Ah, found it, I can’t believe it’s still alive,” Miss Shopkeep motioned to the little girl to come closer.
“This is… A sculpture of the limited edition figurine of King HOMU the Great?”
“It’s kind of sad that the shape’s all messed up because it hasn't been taken care of”
“A certain acquaintance of mine also taught me the basics of how to sculpt bushes, and I tried to sculpt something to comfort a friend for not getting the figurine from a lottery, but evidently failed. As you can see in this attempt.”
“I think Miss Shopkeep’s friend would appreciate it though. Anyone would see how much time and thought you’ve put into this gift. Maybe Miss Shopkeep should think of giving this to Miss Shopkeep’s friend. With a little more touches, I think this would make for a great gift.”
“Maybe if I find the time.” Miss Shopkeep sighs.
—
Types of flowers and their meanings...
Where they once thrived...
Tips on growing such flora...
And even several stories born from Miss Shopkeep's experiences.
All in all, the past few hours were productive for both of them.
—
“I am both terrified and astounded by your ability to soak up knowledge and information like a sponge,” an astonished and flabbergasted Miss Shopkeep replies.
“Eh? Uh, thank you for the compliment?” The kid gave a confused reply.
“Natural-born geniuses such as her are rare, and talent should be cultivated when one is still young… I wonder if I should recommend her to the Prof-”
But this train of thought was cut short by an unexpected ringing coming from her pocket.
Her hand dives inside the pockets and takes out her phone, and upon a quick glance, the caller seems to be Br- but before the little girl got a good look, Miss Shopkeep already clicked the accept call button, and then the mute button.
"Ah, let me answer it quickly,” she said while quickly grabbing a book on a nearby shelf.
“Here, feel free to read this while waiting, I think you’ll learn a lot from this book,” she quickly left and went to the lounge room to answer her call.
“A Comprehensive Guide to Far-Eastern Flora… Miss Shopkeep wrote this?!? She’s really not joking about being a ‘veteran’ florist huh…” She remarked, as she flipped through the pages.
“Geez, the title sure isn’t lying about the book being ‘comprehensive’… Oh! Wait. I think Miss Shopkeep has a pot of this somewhere in the greenhouse, apparently it’s a rare… Oof”
The little girl abruptly stops her pondering after bumping herself with a small crate, apparently half-filled with different types of fertilizers, large enough to reach her knees.
“Ah, so this is why I felt like I forgot something. I forgot to carry the crate to the greenhouse. Let me just.. Put this book back on the shelf before I lift this.”
The girl tries to find the spot where Miss Shopkeep took the book from, but her gaze was drawn by a mysterious… box, covered with a fine cloth as dark as the night with red and gold embroidery embellished at its edges. This piece of fabric seems to be hiding the box from prying eyes… and even from the sun’s shining rays.
She found herself getting drawn to the peculiar cloth-covered box, and ended up sauntering towards it. Upon further inspection, the cloth appeared to be covered by a layer of dust, signifying how much time has passed ever since it was last cleaned. The dust drifting in the air enters her nostrils as she inhales and…
“ACHOOOO”
She sneezed.
“I-I need to get rid of the dust..”
The little girl carefully peels off the silken fabric resting on top of the ever puzzling box, revealing a display case with an expensive-looking flower pot with an arrangement of Black-Velvet Petunias and Black Roses, but one flower, blooming inside the glass box stood out and piqued her interest.
She does not know its species, but it contains such beauty unlike any other flower she saw before, it gave off an eerie, yet gentle red glow, shadowy petals moving and bobbing ever so slightly, as if the flower was alive... and breathing...
"It looks like the flower.. Is sleeping peacefully..." The giri pointed out, as she tried to take in this bizarre yet wondrous sight, searching her mind’s library for the name of this bloom...
Not knowing how much pain she would be reminding her by doing so.
"Overtime again huh, when would she eve-"
She stopped.
She saw.
“. . .”
And disappeared.
Faster than a butterfly would ever flap its wings, she shortly reappears by the little girl’s side, grabs her wrist and pulls her away from the display case as if she's a thief robbing her of her precious treasure..
"Don’t you dare touch that flower.” threatened Miss Shopkeep in a low growl, pain and regret emanating from her tone.
This snapped the little girl’s daze, as she found herself getting confronted by an enraged Miss Shopkeep, her face covered by her bangs which made her emotions not evident.
The little girl, a good and obedient child who has never encountered such fury before, broke down into tears while apologizing like a broken doll.
Miss Shopkeep's anger, that has been subdued and has been replaced by worry as she is confronted by a crying little girl, transformed into distress as she finally processed in her brain what happened.
She knelt and hugged the weeping girl to comfort her, muttering comforting words while thinking of what she would have to tell her parents about this incident.
"I'm so so so sorry,” the girl cried out.
"No, you didn't do anything, I was jus-"
The child tightens her arms wrapping around in an embrace before burying her head.
"I'm really sorry for reminding Miss Shopkeep of sad memories"
"..."
The room fell into silence, neither comforting nor suffocating. It took quite some time until someone broke this stillness.
Miss Shopkeep stands back and gives the girl some tissues, which the girl gratefully accepted.
"This... flower. This was given to me by a... treasured acquaintance… before she left us… before she left me." Miss Shopkeep said as she gently stroked the display case while traveling down memory road, seemingly lost in her own world. Her tone… exuded a sense of melancholy, regret, and despair.
Noticing this, the girl chose to give her some space rather than disturb her, and decided to quietly tidy up the shop.
Time passed…
Sounds of birds flapping their wings, tweeting outside, can be heard.
and passed…
Warm sunset rays pass through the windows, illuminating the flowers and giving them an orange hue.
And continuously passed…
The girl neatly folds the embroidered cloth, setting it on top of the table before looking for the broom.
Until it seemingly came to a halt with a chime.
"Ah Naomi, there you are! I’m finally done with the groceries so now it’s time to go home"
An older woman with white hair and green eyes called out to the girl, her appearance is much like her child.
"Ah, Mom? Coming!" exclaimed the girl as she trotted towards her mother like a duckling.
"Miss, thank you for looking over my child,” the mother pats the kid’s head.
"It's a pleasure to be of service maam, your child gave me some company as I was tending to the flowers" Miss Shopkeep gave a gentle smile before going back to tidy up the shop.
Miss Shopkeep’s mood is bright, unlike her earlier attitude, and Naomi is suspicious, but before she can ask-
"I'm glad you had fun Naomi, come along now, we have to go home, the sky is already dark, and you don’t want Father to wait right?"
“Oh, right! But.. I still have to thank Miss Shopkeep for teaching me lots of stuff,” Naomi reluctantly says..
“Alright, alright. I’ll be waiting for you outside okay?”
“Mhm!”
The older woman, with bags of groceries in her arms, left the store.
Naomi tottered towards Miss Shopkeep, who was beginning to clean and close up the store.
“Mm? Why are you still here, the store’s going to close soon”
“Uhm… I just want to apologize for what happened earlier…”
“Like I said, it’s okay, really.”
“No! It’s just- Miss Shopkeep looks so hurt when Miss Shopkeep was looking at the flowers earlier…”
“…”
“It looks like Miss Shopkeep has been shouldering this problem for a long time…”
“Miss Shopkeep… Miss Shopkeep should talk to other friends! Mom said that if we are hurting inside, we can share our problems to friends and not bear this burden alone!”
But, Miss Shopkeep simply chose to smile and pat her head
“...You really should go now, your Mother is already waiting for you outside, isn't she? She might get worried.”
Miss Shopkeep pointed at the window, where the girl’s Mother is waiting for her child to leave the store
"Ah- Okay… T-Thank you Miss Shopkeep for teaching me about flowers!"
The girl bowed her head and ran towards the exit of the store, and with a loud click of the door, the store fell into silence once again.
Miss Shopkeep simply sighed.
“What a sensitive girl.”
——
"Did you have fun Naomi?" her Mother asked, curious as to how her daughter’s day went, recalling how Naomi can’t even sleep well last night due to her excitement.
"Mmm! Miss Shopkeep was kind, she taught me a lot about flowers, as well as some gardening techniques, oh, and..." Naomi stops, thinking of how to carefully voice out her thoughts.
"What is it?"
"It’s just that… She… Ms. Seele, the Shopkeep looked so lonely..."
— — — — — — —
In the depths of the night, she reminisces once again
“To think I would get comforted by a little kid… how laughable of me…”
She chuckled, laughing at the fact that her worries are so evident that even a little kid can decipher it
But despite ridiculing herself, she thought back to the little girl’s words
“It’s not like I never wanted to talk about it to my… acquaintances.”
Bronya is far too busy with her dream job, Seele doesn’t want to make her worry, and she wants to see her happy rather than relive the moment where both of them lost something significant.
While the others… although they were comrades fighting against the same enemy, after all the reconstruction of the damages that were inflicted by the Great Eruption to the world were finished, they each went their own separate ways.
Though they were triumphant during the Great War, most of them are quite… reluctant to broach about the topic after everything settled down, focusing on what the future has in store for them rather than retracing the past.
Seele heaves a sigh.
After all, the one person who she can always depend on , the one person who can understand her worries and problems, the one person who always supported her through thick and thin had already… disappeared.
It was a fact that she has to accept
But she can’t help holding onto this tiny bit of hope.
That she’s still alive.
That one conversation played in her head over, and over, and over, and over in her dreams… for so many times during the past 5 years.
Some have happily ever afters, while some… have even worse endings.
She tried.
She tried to ignore, she tried to distract herself, she tried all the possible ways to not let that single conversation, that single parting affect her…
Even still, she finds herself going back, reliving each and every word she spoke, the gestures and emotions she expressed, the promises… that were made during that one, final conversation.
“You know, Seele… I was supposed to be gone long ago, after you’ve awakened.”
“ …However, it seems like I used every bit of luck that I have huh,” Seele jokingly said, despite knowing what fate has in store for the both of them.
Her voice echoes in this white, empty void. And the longer they stay in there, the more their bodies would be corrupted.
All she needs to do is to let her get the power she deserves, but knowing Seele for the entirety of her lifetime …
“But I… I can’t just accept this!” Seele cried out.
She would obviously reject it.
“Why must one of us disappear just so the other can have full control over the core?” She questioned.
“Seele”
“Why is it that I'm the one who had to awaken as the Herrscher of Death?” She asks.
“Seele.”
“Why… Why must it be you who should disappear? Shouldn’t it be me, the foolish and cowar–”
“SEELE!” Seele shouts, hugging her counterpart, her host, in a tight yet gentle embrace.
“Don’t.. say that. Don’t you dare belittle yourself.”
“You are loved by your peers, you are respected as a Valkyrie fighting for tomorrow’s peace, you are… my other half. The one whom I have been protecting for the past years. The one whom I have been watching grow and soar to new heights. The gentle light that woke me in the darkness.”
“That’s why…”
“I’ll be your weapon that will rend the enemies that dare to try to hurt you.”
“I’ll be your shadow, observing and following you through the path you would forge in your life.”
“And finally… I’ll be a part of you, making you whole after living as halves.”
“…And you can think of this as me… sleeping deep within you. So don’t cry.”
Seele embraces her even tightly.
“Don’t cry… or you’ll make me cry too.”
Despite the darker side of her pleading, Seele continued to sob, not wanting to let go, fearing that she would disappear into thin air if she even slightly released her from her tight embrace.
Seele notices this, and sighs as she continues to pat Seele’s head to comfort her.
Silence envelops the atmosphere, only being broken by Seele’s weak sobs.
But both of them knew…
That everything will eventually come to an end.
Seele stands up, and gives Seele one last hug.
“You should go. This space is slowly collapsing, and… wouldn’t it be better if I send you off with a smile?” Seele laughs.
But Seele knows the turbulence of emotions her other self is facing under that visage of hers.
Seele gently pushes her.
Awaiting her in the far side of this space was a chest. An all too familiar chest. It was the same chest that the demon- no, that Seele said to not open years ago.
“Please go… I don’t think I’d be able.. to hold on to this form for much longer…” Seele pleads, as she continues to lead her in front of the chest, her body slowly fading, like a flower wilting.
Seele reluctantly takes a few steps, breaking out of her embrace.
And some more.
The distance between the two of them is growing wider.
And more.
She can only hear the echo of her footsteps in this disintegrating white space.
Until finally arriving in front of the wooden chest.
Her trembling hands lightly touch the chest.
Yet she cannot find the will to open it.
She knows that she’ll gain unmatched power.
She knows that with this power, she’d be able to help the others against the Finality.
But she also knows that she’ll never see her again.
She can’t.
She can’t.
She can’t do this.
She will not do this.
Seele turns back and runs.
She wants to escape.
She wants to escape from everything.
She doesn’t want to make a choice.
A choice she knows that has only one predetermined option.
“If only… If only this moment lasts forever,” then she wouldn’t be faced with such a choice.
She ran back
“Please… don’t go,” she begged.
Seele embraced her so tightly as if she’s her lifeline.
“Please.".
Grasping the cloth of her dress, she does not dream of letting go,
But her begging is only met by a sigh
“You sure never change huh, Seele.”
She knows that Seele… should leave this place for her own good, despite that, her heart felt warm and full by the fact that Seele chose her over power, over her peers, over the world.
She wants to stay like this. Forever. She doesn’t want to let go.
But
The fate of the world hangs over her slender shoulders.
What a cruel fate for a girl wanting companionship and happiness.
“Then here. I’ll leave this with you,” Seele said as she gives her a flower.
“If you ever feel lonely, if you ever feel lost, if you ever feel doubt of my… existence, then I hope you’d look at this flower, and remember that all those memories we experienced, those challenges we faced together, the emotions we felt together… That all of them are.. real.”
Seele lets her recollect her emotions.
The fact that her existence is ending by a simple opening of a chest sunk in at this moment.
“Now Seele, it’s time.”
“Whatever challenges you will face, whatever problems that may arise, whatever experiences that you’ll go through”
“Just know that I’m always, always by your side.”
“Now, remember, just like how we did this last time.”
Everything, her surroundings, her vision turned to white
.
.
.
.
.
And the rest of this memory… it became a blur.
Was it because of her unwillingness to accept her disappearance?
Was it because of how she felt that time that caused her unable to face this memory again?
Was it because she was afraid that once she looked back, she'd be unable to keep her promises?
She does not know.
But a fact that this seasoned veteran of the Great Eruption knows wholeheartedly is…
“A future together with her is but a fleeting, shattered dream.”
Yet…
“I can’t help but think that…”
“If only I were given another chance to choose… I’d rather be able to stand by your side and meet our fate together, than take a step and move forward… without ever seeing you again.”